On the day of his inauguration President elect Willian H. Harrison focused on showing that he was still the stalwart hero of Tippecanoe. He rode up the avenue on a white horse
and despite the extremely cold, windy weather he wore no overcoat, he
was followed by an enthusiastic procession of people, many
wearing coonskin caps and hauling wagons on which were
displayed log cabins.
After the oath of office he gave the longest inaugural
address on record. It was 8,445 words and lasted almost two hours.
For the inauguration a pound cake had been made in the model of the
Capitol of the United States. It was nine feet long, eight and a half feet wide, six feet high and weighed eight hundred pounds.
He later caught a cold, which then developed into pneumonia and pleurisy. (According to the prevailing medical misconception of the times, it was believed that his illness was caused by the bad weather, when, in fact, he was likely a victim of the virus that causes the common cold.)
His doctors tried everything to cure him, applying opium, castor oil, Virginia snakeweed, and even actual snakes. But the treatments only made Harrison worse and he went into delirium. He died a month later, at 12:30 a.m., on April 4, 1841, of right lower lobe pneumonia, jaundice, and overwhelming septicemia, becoming the first American president to die in office. His last words were "Sir, I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more." Harrison served the shortest term of any American president: only 30 days, 11 hours and 30 minutes.
Mrs. Harrison was not present for the inauguration. As she had been ill that winter, she was unable to make the long trip from Ohio to Washington at that time of year.
She planned to arrive in Washington in May.
Although she was the wife of a President and Grandmother to another she died many years later without ever being in the White House or in Washington.
Harrison's grandson, Benjamin Harrison of Ohio, became the 23rd president in 1889, making them the only grandparent-grandchild pair of presidents to date. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison gave his inaugural address in the rain. Understanding his grandfather's mistakes, he asked his outgoing predecessor (and later his successor), Grover Cleveland, to hold an umbrella above his head, since he delivered the longest inaugural address since his grandfather's.
Josh
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